The true story of an obsessive quest by the English courtier and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh to find El Dorado, set against the backdrop of Elizabethan political intrigue and a competition with Spanish conquistadors for the legendary city's treasure.
Thomson adds only moderately to the historical record. The section at the heart of the book—Raleigh’s search for El Dorado—is a mildly interesting account of a meandering, misguided failure. Ultimately, this book may interest aficionados of this period of history, as well as those unfamiliar with the life of Raleigh, but others will not find much that is worth the effort.
